5 Ways To Entice People To Do Market Testing For You

In a recent article I mentioned how creating services and products that people actually want to buy has nothing to do with what the business owner wants to put out there, but rather what their market needs and is willing to pay for. One such way to get this information is called market testing. The idea is that by surveying your market, you can better understand what they want. Another way is by conducting beta tests where your market uses your product or service before it’s actually launched and gives the business owner feedback.

A lot of people would volunteer for market testing willingly, especially if the company or owner is well-known. However, most times people need to be enticed in order to spend their time market testing for a company they may not know that well. That’s why it’s so important to use methods of encouragement for your market, so that they may more easily help you create services and products.

From there, your market testing should flow smoothly. You can test, or focus group, or survey in any way that you please. The challenging part is getting them to give you permission in the first place.

With that said, the following are 5 ideas to get them to do just that. As always, they are things that I myself have tried and used successfully in building my own business or writing my own books. Hopefully you will enjoy the same success with your market testing as well.

1. Offer something for free

The last time I conducted market testing for a book, I offered free coaching in exchange for people’s time. I also made sure to explicitly state how much one coaching session with me typically costs so that they would understand the value of what they would be getting for free.

If someone receives an email asking them to take a survey or test a product and in exchange for their feedback they’re going to receive something worth $300 then you can bet people will jump on it. Did it work when I tried it? Let’s just say I was booked with interviews for weeks.

Here is what I used for 1-on-1 coaching.

There’s only one caveat with offering something for free. Sometimes it costs you more money than you can realistically give up. For example, at this stage in my business it’s no longer feasible to give away free coaching sessions. I’d rather spend money on 10 gift cards or books then give 10 sessions at $300 each. See what I mean? However, giving away free coaching sessions worked when I was just getting my business off the ground.

2. Create a giveaway

One way to entice people to fill out a survey, is to offer a giveaway whereby filling out the survey is their contest entry. I’ve seen people give away iPads, gift cards, books, another well-known service, you name it! I’ve held contests where the winner receives a free copy of my book. I’ve also done giveaways where the winner gets a coaching call with me.

For example, see this facebook advertisement from survey monkey where – filling out the survey is their contest entry:

The key here is to give away something your market needs and wants.

So for example, if you’re planning on giving away a service or product your market’s never heard of—or has no need for—then you may not have a lot of luck in getting giveaway participants.

3. Entice them with gift cards

Just recently I received an email from my email marketing software company where they were looking for current customers to give them feedback on a new service they were thinking about rolling out. In exchange for 30 minutes of my time and my honest feedback they would send me a $25 Amazon gift card.

As soon as I read the email I immediately signed up. I shop on Amazon all the time and gift cards come in handy when I need to get something. If all I would have to do in order to get a $25 credit at Amazon was hop on the phone for a company I already loved and give my honest opinion then you bet I would do it!

4. Offer a discount

Last year I created an online course and group coaching program based off of my book. My assistant and I built the site and I created the content myself. Before investing in major design work and releasing it to the public, I decided to run a beta test with a few prospects to get their feedback.

Of course, I’d already built the course so offering it for free wasn’t an option. However, I did offer a 20% discount for beta testers. I was able to fill it with members of my target market, do a beta run-through and get feedback while still getting paid. Now we’re in the stages of taking that feedback and improving the course so we can release it to the general public.

5. Create a sense of community

You can pick-and-choose any of the aforementioned techniques for enticing people to help you with testing products or services, however building a sense of community is critical no matter which method you choose. I always make sure to let my “Make Money Your Honey” community know that every time they test a product or service or give feedback that they are helping to create goods and services that will help a lot of people.

It may not seem like much, but I’ve discovered that in this world where people are dealing with so much technology that fostering a sense of community and brotherhood goes a really long way. As an example I always point to Obama’s 2008 primary and presidential campaign. It will probably be lauded throughout history as pure marketing genius. Why was the campaign so effective? Because in every email, every advertisement and every speech the Obama campaign made people feel like they were a part of something bigger.

Moral of the story: if creating a sense of community helped a practically unknown Senator win the race for the White House, then it can certainly help you in testing your products and services.

Final thoughts on market testing

It’s human nature for someone to think, “What’s in it for me?” By catering to this basic human instinct and enticing your market, they will be more likely to help you conduct your own market testing which of course in turn, helps you in building your business.